Ballast-tank valve



Sept. ll. 1925;

C. w. L/fkRNl-R4 BALLAST TANK wilmal Filed naa-Ly i9. 1921 Patented sept. 1, 1925. l

- mD-S 1,552,065 rarest OFFICE.

y CHESTER w. L ARNER, OP PHILADELPHIA, PaNN's'YIVaNIa, AssIGNOR TO THE WIL- p LIAM ORAMP asONs SHIP a ENGINE BUILDING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.,

BALLASNTANK VALVE.` Y

Application led May 19, l1921. Serial No.".470,8115.

To cf-ZZ whom 'it may concern: Y Y

Be it known that I, CHESTER W. LARNER, a citizen of the United States, residing 4at Philadelphia., in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented.

certain new and Vuseful improvementsin Ballast-Tank Valves, of which the following is aspeciioation; f f

Thisinvention relatestovalves and par-` ticularly; to valves for the ballast tanksof a* vessel suchl as asubmarine. `:Insubinarines 'theseballast tanks are used for subm'erging the vessel and it is of vital'importance that the valves for theset'anksf should be dependable in operation at ,alltimes The chief object of' the invention is to provide a valve for such a ballast tank, which will be simple 'in structure and operation -w-itliout complicated movino' parts and 'at the same time which willfgive a'tight closure or clear opening in reliable manner in service. f,

further Object of the invention is to provide such 'a valvewhich will be operable solelyby luidpressures without requiring 'extended mechanical connections from withinthe hull. In vthe Aaccompanying drawings illustrating the invention Y Fig'. l is a diagrammatic' sectionalv view of aportion of a submarine. showing valves submergedin one Ot the ballasttanksfand Fig. 2 is a sectional Aview of one of the valves.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the circular h'ull 5 of the submarine is provided with a; ballast tank t having the inner wall 6 and the valves 7 and 8. Each valve is set in an opening 10 in the hull 5 and around this opening is a flange ring l1 supporting the valve structureA from the hull.

Inservice and when the submarine is to submerge, sea water is admitted by opening Athe valves 7, 8 Aand allowing'the'water to flow in by its own pressure. When rising the water is expelled either by pumping 'out 'the tank with centrifugal pumps orvby forcing the water out through the valves 7, 8 by means ofcoinpressed air admitted` to the tanks. 7, 8 are closedbefore ,anyfattempt is made to empty the-tank andfin the second case Ithe valves are lett4 open. The valves 7, 8

' inusttherefore be capable of remaining open In the first instancethe valvesV during either entrance or `discharge of the flow and of remaining closed againstsea pressure from without. *It is also desirable to have the Open valvek passages klarge in comparison with the overall dimensions' of the valve structure, 'andsmooth andffree for the easy passing of the .flow in each direction with as little contraction of the stream as possible atentrance to thevalve structure,l f Y Y j The valves which it has been customary to use for theballast tanks have been flatdisc -valves. mountedon the endof. avertical l stem which passes through thetop of the ballast'ftank and -wliichqis ordinarilyoperated by screws, leversor some other .type

oit mechanism capablefof developingsutlicient force to' unseatthe valves againstse'a pressure; -thatvis to say, the valveopens outwardly land they andl their operating vmechanism areopen to serious objections in service. In theftrst-place, the, interior of a submarine is'crowded-with machinery and mechanism ot. allfsorts and it isa diiicult .matter to prov/ide the Vnecessary space for' the opera-ting gear, particularly yon the` larger' boats where this mechanism is correspondingly large' and complicatedj A.second objection isythat rthe valves themselves cannot beflocated in a compact group.,v There' are ordinarily three I'nainV ballast tanks, each with two or more valves.

This vnecessita-tes several'` ,groupsl of valves widely `separated and conseopientlyl several groups otoperatingfmechanism also widely separated; Itis very desirable to' lhave a central :controlv stationffrom which all of the gvalves rcan'be 'operated simultaneously or individually.according to the rrequiref ments and with the valve of this invention this can be accomplished by piping the severa'l groups of valves to a central control station. f 1 l Another importantl advantage which .the valve of-*this'invention has' over the ordinary valve is its hydraulic eliicienoy or higlivco.- eliicient of discharge. The aperture through which the water inustil-ow whentheordinaryvalve'isopened is merely .ahole in the A hull without; tapering passages vleading to it andj it iswell known that'the .coefficient of .discharge under such conditions vis very low,

the valve disc when open. It stands directly in the passage of the water either entering or leaving the tank.

The valve structures 7 8 of this invention each comprise a casting 12 having flaring mouth 14 terminating in the flange 15 fastened to the ring 11 (Fig. 2).A AY trash screen 16 is provided over this mouth 14. At its Vinner portion the casting 12 has the annular opening 19 spanned by a circular series of stays 2O carrying cylindrical portion 21 at the inner end the valve casing thus has within the tank an annular opening 19 flaring into the tank andl communicating with opening 14 in the casing flaring to the sea, the opening 14 flaring also into the opening 19. l

Afcover 23 is fastened by its flange 26 to the end of the cylindrical portion 21 of the vcasting 12. The valveplunger 25 comprises 'the cylindrical portion 29 sliding in the annular flange 28k of the casting 12, and piston 30 sliding in cylinder 21 of casting v12'; and the/cylindrical portion 29 of the plunger has the conical nose 31 forming a pointed wedge extending toward the mouth 14 of the valve. The open poistion of this plunger is shown in Fig. 2; in closed position the annular edgew 32 of thisplunger seats tightly aga-inst the seat 33 at the inner endof the mouth portion 14 of casting 12.

Two pressure chambers are thus provided,

a central chamber A above the plunger 25 and an outer annular Vchamber B beneath the V pistonportion 30 of the plunger. The chambers A and B are connected by pipes a and Z9 respectively with a four way cock which in one positioncloses the valve by admittitng v y, sea pressureto chamber A and exhausting chamber B to atmosphere, and in another position opens the valve by exhausting pressure from chamber A and admitting it to chamber B. In' "this" way the valve may be operated by the pressure of the water without extra pumpsY or extended mechanical connections. In closed position the valve is held tight toits seat against the pressure of the sea'by sea pressure in chamber A while chamber Bris kept exhausted to atmosphere; that is to a waste tank or some'similar chamber in the hull of the'boat. The symmetrical circular formation of the valve parts enables them to be accurately fitted with thev valve seat ground to register with the plunger while the even distribution of the stresses avoids all tendency to warp'or Vwear unevenly. Y

The valve in addition t-o being operated by the pressure of the sea may also be operated by compressedairfrom the air tanks which vthe'submarine always carries.V lThis pressure, of course, is' very much higher than seaA pressure and will operate the valves more rapidly, and in addition' to this, it may be used vwhen the vessel is on the surface for holding the valves open or closed more positively than is possible by use of the sea pressure which, of course, is quite low under such conditions, due to the -fact that the valves are submerged only a few feet below the water surface. The air pressure'is connected into the supply pipe which draws water from outside of the hull. This pipe has a check valve between the sea and the air connection which prevents the escape of the air when it is admitted to this line. The air admitted to the supply line exerts pressure immediately in the chambers of the valves according to the setting of the control valves.

,A number of the valves of this invention when installed in the ballast tanks may be connected by piping so as to be operated in simple manner from a single control point p. The smooth efficient opening through tapering passages in each direction gives a maximum iniiow or outflow of water.' When the valve is open a widev passage is provided for the flow opening inward and outward through a complete 36()o and having its walls smoothly curving to impose a minimum resistance to the flow in either direction.

Careful theoretical analysis indicates that for the same area of openingthe valve of this invention will Vdischarge from two or three times as much water as the ordinaryY valve. This difference of discharge becomes highly important in connection with vessels oflarge size such as are customary at the present time. The stresses in the hull ofa submarine at maximum submergence are very high and it is very difficult to provide large openings for the valves. At the same time, the tanks are large and they require Ylarge valves in order to empty or fill them in the short time which is usually desirable.

4The whole valve structure forms a unit which may be inserted'into the hull. opening froml the outside and supported thereon without further supports to other parts between which relative stressingv would be likely to occur.

I claim l. In a ballast tank structure for avessel, a valve adapted to control an opening between said tank and the water surrounding the hull of said vessel, comprising a unitary body fastened to the hull and carrying a valve seat adjacent to the hull anda relatively movable valve plunger having its closing movement toward the outside' ofthe hull, and means for opening said plunger and closing said plunger. against said seat by the pressure of said water comprising a piston moving in a chamber in said unitary body.

' 2L In a .valve structure for a ballast tank the combination with a supporting member adapted to be ,attached to the hull of'a vessel, of an inner structure supported by nov adapted to be attached to the hull of a ves-V sel, stays carried by said supporting member, an inner structure supported by said stays and forming therewith an. annular passage adapted to pass the flowl into and out of thel ballast tank, a hollow valve plunger carried by said inner structure and fluid pressure operated means for moving said plunger to close it againstI the pressure of the surrounding water comprising a piston member moving in a chamber in said inner structure.

4l. The combination with a ballast tank having an opening vsubmerged in surrounding water, of a valve structure at said opening and comprising a valve movable out- Wardly against a seat in said opening, and fluid pressure operated means for moving said valve to closed position comprising a piston operated by the pressure of said water and a cylindrical casing carried by said valve structure and enclosing said piston. y

5. The combination with a ballast tank having an opening submerged in the surrounding water, of a valve structure for said opening comprising a casing having a4 passage flaring into theta-nk, a valve seat in said passage and a. valve plunger moving outwardly to engage said seat and close said passage and Huid pressure means for operating said plunger comprising a piston moving in a chamber in said casing and operating said valve by the pressure of said water. s

6. The Combination with a ballast tankV having an opening submerged in the surrounding water, of a valve structure for said opening comprising a casing having a passage flaring into the tank, and a valve seat therein, stays across said passage, an inner structure carried by said stays and supportwr ing a valve plunger adapted to move out- Ward against said seat to close said passage and means for operating said valve comprising a cylinder formed by said inner structure and a piston movable in said cylinder.

7. The combination with a ballast tank having an opening submerged in the surrounding water, of a. valve structure for said openingcomprisinga casing having an opening therethrough smoothly flaring in each direction to give efficient flow conditions for the inflow or outflow of water.

8. The combination with `a ballast tank having an opening submerged in the sur` rounding water, of a -valve structure for said vadapted to be inserted through said opening and fastened to the outside ofsaid tank and a movable valve member carried by saidfcasing and positioned entirely within the h ull and movlng outwardly to close said opening.

10. The combination with a ballast tank having an opening in the hull submerged in the surrounding water, of a valve structure for said opening comprising a casing'atl taohed to the hull and having an opening therethrough, an inner cylindrical easing supported from said first named casing by CHESTER W. LARNER. 

